ITALY: The race director on the women's Winter Olympic downhill slope talks about the piste.

Record ID: 331922

  • Title: ITALY: The race director on the women's Winter Olympic downhill slope talks about the piste.
  • Date: 14th February 2006
  • Summary: SAN SICARIO FRAITEVE, ITALY (FEBRUARY 14, 2006) (REUTERS) TORINO 2000 SIGN AT THE BOTTOM OF THE WOMEN'S DOWNHILL SLOPE VARIOUS OF THE WOMEN'S DOWNHILL SLOPE (SOUNDBITE) (English) ATLE SJAARDAL, INTERNATIONAL SKI FEDERATION (FIS) SLOPE DIRECTOR SAYING: "It was changed a little bit to have some more interest around the more easy parts, a little bit more terrain in there, the jumps have been a little bit adjusted so the landing is quite steep so then you can jump a little further. Small adjustments but its a lot of work to do these adjustments and I think the organising committee did a very good job and from my point of view the downhill slope is in excellent shape now." VARIOUS OF WOMEN DOWNHILL SKIERS LEAVING THE AREA AFTER TRAINING (SOUNDBITE) (english) SKAARDAL SAYING: "It's a lot of great skiing and I think we will have a tight race tomorrow. There's a few favourites but just behind them I think we have a lot of racers who can take a medal, so yeah, its going to be exciting." DOWNHILL SLOPE TORINO 2006 BANNER AT THE BACK OF THE SPECTATORS TRIBUNE
  • Embargoed: 1st March 2006 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Italy
  • Country: Italy
  • Topics: Sports
  • Reuters ID: LVAEXCBAZB6OTDXB8IF3QJJGAYQG
  • Story Text: The race director on the women's Winter Olympic downhill slope said on Tuesday (February 14) that the piste was designed to be more interesting but certainly not more dangerous.
    Atle Skaardal, the women's downhill race director, is the one who will decide if the slope is good and has the power to cancel a race if there are any problems ranging from weather to piste conditions.
    Speaking a day after three downhill skiers fell on the slope destroying at least one of their chances of competing in Wednesday's final, Skaardal said small but important adjustments had been made to the piste.
    Swedish downhill champion Anja Paerson described the piste as difficult but challenging because of it's huge bumps and Austrian favourite Michaela Dorfmeister, who came first at the training session, said she respected it.
    But Canadian medal hopeful Allison Forsyth was ruled out of the Alpine ski races after damaging her knee in a crash on the slope, while U.S. champion Lindsey Kildow and France's Olympic downhill champion Carole Montillet-Carles also ended up in hospital.
    Skaardal said this was just a coincidence and that no one had fallen on Tuesday, the eve of the race.
    "It was changed a little bit to have some more interest around the more easy parts, a little bit more terrain in there, the jumps have been a little bit adjusted so the landing is quite steep so then you can jump a little further. Small adjustments but its a lot of work to do these adjustments and I think the organising committee did a very good job and from my point of view the downhill slope is in excellent shape now," Skaardal said.
    Skaardal has been watching all the skiers go down in the last few days. Although he was not prepared to bet on anyone he said there were some good outsiders who would provide the favourites with a serious challenge.
    "It's a lot of great skiing and I think we will have a tight race tomorrow. There's a few favourites but just behind them I think we have a lot of racers who can take a medal, so yeah, its going to be exciting," Skaardal said.
    Canada's Kelly Vanderbeek posted the fastest run in training for Wednesday's race.
    Vanderbeek's time of one minute 55.23 put her narrowly ahead of Sweden's overall World Cup champion Anja Paerson, who was 0.07 seconds behind and U.S. skier Julia Mancuso who was 0.09 off the pace.
    The Austrian pair of Michaela Dorfmeister and Renate Goetschl, both considered among the favourites in downhill, applied the brakes in the final stages so as to secure an earlier starting bib.
    Croatian triple Olympic champion Janica Kostelic missed training for the women's downhill due to a high pulse rate.
    Vanderbeek's impressive run was a boost to the Canadian team which suffered the loss of Forsyth, who has already flown home to have an operation on her damaged knee ligaments.
    It was a surprise time given that Vanderbeek's best result in a World Cup downhill was 15th at Cortina d'Ampezzo two years ago and she has never made a podium finish on the circuit.
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